http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/sep39/08sep39.htm
Germans advance reaches Warsaw
Friday, September 8, 1939
In Poland... The German 4th Panzer Division, spearheading the German 10th Army (Reichenau) reaches the Warsaw suburb of Ochota, in the southeast, late in the day (having advanced 225 km in 7 days). The Polish garrison commander in Warsaw, General Czuma, broadcasts a defiant Order of the Day: “We shall fight to the last ditch!” Some 100,000 Polish civilians in Warsaw are engaged in digging trenches on the city outskirts. Meanwhile, other elements of the German 10th Army are heavily engaged around Radom, only 60 miles south of Warsaw; about 60,000 Polish troops are encircled to the west of Radom. The German 14th Army (List) reaches the San River north and south of Przemysl. In the north, the German 19th Panzer Corps (Guderian) is attacking along the line of the Bug River to the east of Warsaw.
On the Western Front... A group of 5 Curtiss Hawk fighters of l’Armee de l’Air (French air force) engage 5 Me109 fighters and claim to shoot down 2 of the German planes.
In London... In response to what the British government declares to be German resort to unrestricted submarine warfare, the government announces a long-range blockade of Germany, broadening the original blockade announced on September 3rd. Also, the government revives the convoy system for merchant ships. Three protected routes are established, two from Liverpool and from the Thames to the Atlantic, one from the Thames and the Firth of Forth.
In Washington... Roosevelt proclaims a state of “limited national emergency,” citing the war in Europe which “imposes on the United States certain duties with respect to the proper observance, safeguarding and enforcement” of its neutral status “and the strengthening of the national defense within the limits of peacetime authorizations.” All US military forces are authorized to increase enlisted manpower strength and to recall reservists to active duty.
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=exorder8248&scale=0#exorder8248
September 8, 1939: President Roosevelt Reorganizes Executive Office of the President, Office of Emergency Management Created
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8248, reorganizing the Executive Office of the President. According to the order, “There shall be within the Executive Office of the President the following principal divisions, namely: (1) The White House Office, (2) the Bureau of the Budget, (3) the National Resources Planning Board, (4) the Liaison Office for Personnel Management, (5) the Office of Government Reports, and (6) in the event of a national emergency, or threat of a national emergency, such office for emergency management as the President shall determine.” The order creates the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), a civil defense unit responsible for protecting government functions in the event of a disaster. The President’s Secretary declares that in times of national emergency, “it has always been necessary to establish administrative machinery in addition to that required for normal work of the government.… Although these management facilities need be brought into action only when an emergency or serious threat of emergency exists, they must function in an integral relationship to the regular management arms of the President.” [Executive Order 8248, 9/8/1939; New York Times, 9/10/1939; New York Times, 3/28/1941; New York Times, 4/20/1941]
Entity Tags: Office of Emergency Management, Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Timeline Tags: Civil Liberties
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15808
Franklin D. Roosevelt
127 - Executive Order 8248 Reorganizing the Executive Office of the President.
September 8, 1939
Ah the great Saar offensive. Poland is saved! /s
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/11.html
At 12.15 hours on 8 Sep, 1939, the unescorted Regent Tiger (Master William Roberts) was stopped by U-29 with four shots across her bow about 250 miles west-southwest of Cape Clear. 30 minutes later, she was hit in the forepart by one torpedo after the crew had abanoned the ship and caught fire. The tanker remained afloat but foundered in 49°48N/14°33W on 10 September. The master, 40 crew members and three passengers were picked up after a few hours by the Jean Jadot, which had heard the distress call of the tanker and landed them at Ramsgate on 11 September.
On 12 September, the U-boat came across an abandoned lifeboat of the Regent Tiger and took provisions and other valuable things on board.
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/10.html
On 8 Sep, 1939, the unescorted Kennebec was stopped by U-34 with two shots across her bow about 70 miles west by south of the Scilly Isles. After the crew abandoned ship in lifeboats, the tanker was hit by a coup de grâce at 18.13 hours and broke in two. The next day, parts of the wreck were sunk by gunfire by the HMS Verity (D 63) (LtCdr A.R.M. Black). The 22 crew members were picked up by the Breedijk and landed at Milford Haven on 10 September.
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/9.html
At 08.36 hours on 8 Sep, 1939, the unescorted Winkleigh (Master Thomas Georgeson) was hit by one torpedo from U-48 and sank southwest of Ireland. At 06.32 hours, the ship had been stopped by a shot across the bow and the crew was ordered to abandon ship after the master came aboard with the papers. The master and 36 crew members were picked up by the Dutch liner Statendam and landed at New York.